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Originally Posted by tripsplus6  We took Rosie to the Internal Med Vet yesterday and I think it went fairly well. He felt that all her labs looked good except for the albumin, and the analysis of the fluid removed from her abdomen was just as expected with PLE, and there are no indications of any cancer with her. He feels that when dogs have congenital lymphangiectasia, that it tends to show up earlier in life, maybe around 3 yrs of age or so. Since Rosie is almost 12, he feels it is more likely that she has lymphangiectasia from chronic IBD over the last few years. I'm not sure if that is the standard school of thought, but whatever, he felt treatment with Prednisolone would address the inflammation and help the high protein diet to be utilized in raising her albumin level. He had some concerns about her being so tiny and frail for anesthesia and especially for healing from any biopsies, so the most he would be comfortable doing now would be just endoscopy but it would still be with anesthesia. He felt that it would be ok to just go ahead with treating therapeutically now with meds and diet, and see how she does especially since her appetite is excellent now that the abd fluid has reduced the pressure. There was some concern of lipemia, cholesterol was normal tho but he plans to draw fasting triglycerides next week. He was very pleased with the home cooked diet I'm doing high protein and almost no fat so we will stick with that. I plan to check out the vet nutritionist site as well for more balance once this acute phase is improved, maybe a couple of weeks? So, she is just on Prednisolone 2.5mg/day. I use the Proviable Forte sprinkles on her food once/day. I guess it's for intestinal health and probiotic. He didn't feel she needed to be on the furosemide(lasix) or metronidozole (flagyl), so I guess it's pretty much prednisone and diet. I hope that's aggressive enough. Should I try adding some Spirulina for more protein too? She has been eating egg whites and some whitefish (cod) for most of her protein. Maybe fat free cottage cheese and more fat free yogurt? Mostly cooking white potatoes for calories and fill her up. |
Happy to hear the vet is not overly concerned at this point.
No advice here from this YTer on a diet as it is SO important in PLE. I would never guess on a diet for a dog with lymphangectasia. It is not a simple thing. Additionally, supplements are so important. I am actually surprised any vet would recommend a diet without them.
From
https://www.marvistavet.com/intestin...ted%20patients).
Nutritional management of PLE is a bit tricky. The diet must be especially digestible and high in protein (20-25% protein on a dry matter basis) so as to replace all the protein being lost through the leaky GI tract. Further, the diet should be no more than 15% fat on a dry matter basis (lower for more severely affected patients). Reading a diet label shows percentages on an "as fed" basis, so to compare diets, it is necessary to convert values to a dry matter basis through knowing the moisture content. To see how this is done click here. There are prescription diets available for diseases like this one where fat restriction is crucial. Non-prescription diets are unlikely to meet the above criteria but if you know how to read the food label properly you may be able to find one. Injectable vitamin supplements are likely to be needed.
Thanks for the update!